pro-choice campaigners

by International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
Aug 13, 2018

On 15 July, hundreds (one report said thousands) of people from more than 100 social and political organisations participated in the “March for Life, Health and Dignity of Dominican Women”, which called for the decriminalisation of abortion in the country on three grounds: when the life of the woman is at risk, in cases of rape or incest, and when the fetus is not viable.

The march went from the Dominican Medical College to the National Congress. Placards carried messages such as: “The rich abort, the poor die”, “The sins according to a religion do not have to be crimes for the nation” and “#Abortion3Grounds: the life, health and dignity of women”. There were also demands that legislators “fulfill their role as representatives of the will of the Dominican people, who have pronounced themselves in favour of the three grounds by a large majority.”

BUENOS AIRES — They narrowly lost the vote. But as supporters of a bill to legalize abortion in Argentina began to shake off a stinging defeat in the Senate on Thursday, they took consolation in having galvanized a reproductive-rights movement across Latin America and began to consider how to redirect their activism.

A coalition of young female lawmakers who stunned the political establishment by putting abortion rights at the top of the legislative agenda this year seemed to be on the verge of a historic victory with the bill. But intense lobbying by Catholic Church leaders and staunch opposition in conservative northern provinces persuaded enough senators to vote against it.

(CNN)Argentina's Senate voted against legalizing elective abortion in the early hours of Thursday morning, dashing the hopes of abortion rights advocates in the predominantly Catholic country, homeland of Pope Francis.

The Senate rejected the proposed bill 38 to 31, with two abstentions and one absentee.

The bill, which fueled contentious debate, would have expanded abortion rights to allow women to end a pregnancy in the first 14 weeks. Current laws allow the procedure only in cases of rape or when the mother's health is at risk.

Argentine sex workers are fighting for legal abortion and the right to work
We hear the harrowing stories of women championing reproductive rights in Argentina as a crucial vote takes place

7 August 2018
Text Elizabeth Sulis Kim
Photography Michael Vince Kim

Tomorrow (August 8), the Argentine Senate will vote on an abortion bill that was narrowly passed by the Chamber of Deputies in June. If passed, it would allow women to have a legal abortion up until the 14th week of pregnancy.

Sex workers in Argentina’s capital have expressed solidarity with the pro-choice movement, which they say aligns with their own wish for body autonomy and integrity.

Human rights activists in Chile have expressed shock and concern after masked attackers stabbed three women at a protest in favour of free and legal abortion.

One of the women was wounded in the stomach and two others in the legs during a march in the country’s capital, Santiago, on Wednesday. Their injuries were not described as life-threatening. A policeman was also hurt in the incident.

Dozens of women march in silence through a rainy cityscape. Heads bowed, dressed in red cloaks and white bonnets, it looks like a scene from Gilead, the theocratic patriarchy Margaret Atwood created in dystopian 1985 novel The Handmaid's Tale.

But this is Buenos Aires. It is Wednesday, and the women involved are calling for abortion to be decriminalised in a country where complications arising from illegal abortion are a leading cause of maternal death.

Both sides of the abortion debate met on Parliament's front lawn today in an orderly demonstration of free speech.

The Voice for Life pro-life group laid out 13,285 pairs of baby booties on the lawn to represent the number of foetuses aborted in 2017.

Voice for Life national president Jacqui de Ruiter said the group decided to create the graphic display following the release of the latest abortion figures to illustrate how many potential lives were lost through abortion.

Thousands of Chileans are marching in Santiago demanding the right to safe, free and legal abortions, and carrying green bandanas the same as campaigners in Argentina.

Around 40,000 abortion rights activists are taking to the streets of Santiago and several other Chilean cities to demand free, safe and legal abortions.

Activists are out in support of the abortion bill introduced to Congress on Wednesday by legislature Guido Girardi, member of the opposition Party For Democracy. Girardi said as he presented the measure he wants "to open a debate in Chile, a conversation, a democratic process, a space for the vindication of rights and autonomy."